Between the Powders, Carpets and Cow Hides - The Real Guide

by Tracy Durrant (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Morocco

The sunset cast a purple and pink gradient across the nights' sky while gold and blue curtains framed the windows, It felt majestic. We had arrived, this was Marrakesh. The next day, after a short ride in the minibus, we arrived at the Souks. Our guide took us from one room filled with silver, lamps and jewellery, to another room filled with beautiful fabrics, a twist to see shoemakers a turn to the ‘bag makers’ it seemed like, everything was possible here, the Souks was buzzing with inspiration and creativity. Guided away from the group to heaps of colourful seasonings, our guide told us he would be back in 15 minutes while we browsed. Would you like some tea? ‘Yes please’ Chantelle smiled as she got comfortable, ’no thanks’ I declined, I like to take a good half hour to sip tea and didn’t feel I’d have time. I went to view an adjacent carpet stall, keeping an eye out for a guide to return, on approach back to the seasonings stall, the shop owner could feel my confusion “don’t worry, we will show you the way back’ I continued to wait, 15 minutes quickly turned into 1 hour, ‘we need to go’ Chantelle agreed and stood up asking ‘could you show us where we should go’ ’sure, would you like to purchase some…’ ‘No, thank-you’ she stopped him in mid-sentence, instantly his warmth turned to ice, he turned his back and there we were, alone, in the souks, sunsetting, no signal, no internet, no group, no idea how we got there, very basic French and no map. ‘Let’s walk like we know where we’re going and try to find a main road’ - I suggested We paced around, turning corners, hoping to see something familiar. ‘Hello, do you need help’ we heard in the distance, ‘We’re fine thanks’ we carried on walking, trying our best to blend in and not look lost. Worried, we could feel that voice following us, again ‘Hello, do you need help’ this time he stood in front of us. ‘I saw what the guys just did, can I help you’ something in my gut said that we could trust this man, he felt sincere. ‘Where are you staying he asked’ Neither of us had the address, trying to piece together the memory of what we saw the night before and this morning ‘It’s a Riad, near a KFC, on a junction’ we directed ‘I will take you there, my names Michael’ He guided us out of the Souks, we talked about the history of Morrocco, the food, the education as the sunset around the palm trees. ‘What has your experience of Morocco been so far’ he asked, trying to ease the tension, ‘It’s beautiful but I’d love to taste authentic Vegetarian Moroccan food, so far we’ve only seen fast food near our hotel,’ I explained ‘I will take you to the perfect place tonight’ he paced around excited Maybe 2 hour’s later, we arrived at our hotel we were so relieved. That evening, he sent a Taxi to picked the four of us up, to take us to the restaurant. Driving further away from the bright lights, entering the silent corners of the city. Alone stood a softly lit shop, ‘Dip here’ he instructed us so we wouldn’t bang our heads going up the stairs. At the top of the stairs revealed a stunning view of Marrakech, we were offered food, freshly baked fluffy flatbreads, spicy chickpeas and lentils and a cool beer to wash it down. We shared stories and met with other travellers on the roof. Offering to pay or at least contribute to the drinks, food and Taxi, ‘No, I can’t accept money, I saw what those guys did in the Souks, I don’t want you to leave Morocco and think that’s what my country is like.’ ‘I want you to go home, and tell people you enjoyed Morocco’ And we really did. We learned how to trust our neighbours and to remove the barriers of fear, in doing so, we got to see and sample a real taste of the city.